Saitō Hajime
Shield Magic }} Saitō Hajime (斎藤 一, Hajime Saitō), is a wandering-mage hailing from who was previously an S-class mage affiliated with the Tenbatsu Guild. One of the few known users of the extremely rare and powerful Demon Slayer form of magic, he was the first known person to fully master these arts and scared of the magic's true power, turned his back on it as well as his comrades at the Tenbatsu Guild. He is currently a wandering-mage who takes on jobs and helps out anyone he meets in need of it. He is, in his own words, on a quest to find a means to redeem himself from the misdeeds of his past. Having vowed to never again use Demon Slayer Magic, he has since mastered the usage of , a form of magic for which he had shown particular proclivity as a child before he had learned to use Demon Slayer Magic. His quest to rid himself of his shame has slowly built a reputation for him as a protector of the poor and a defender of the weak. Ironically the very people he has helped, in their admiration for his aid, in awe of his powers and because of the fiery orange color of his hair (so often the color of the sky at dawn), have given him the name of Prince of the Dawn (夜明けの王子, Yoake no Ōji), a name in stark contrast to the dark and sinister nature of his current and previous powers. Appearance Saitō is a tall, lean young man with peach skin and brown eyes. The most striking feature about his appearance is his spiky orange hair, a trait that has caused him to face a great deal of ridicule and even animosity from others. He clothing consists of a white shitagi, a black kosode, a black hakama, a white hakama-himo, white tabi, and waraji. Below all this his torso and arms are tightly wrapped in plain white bandages. Personality Saitō tends to be solitary and withdrawn, a condition exacerbated by the atrocities committed by Tenma while in possession of his body, something for which he holds himself resposible. This lead to his current state as something of a loner who prefers to be on his own rather than rely on others. His difficulty in trusting others is a constant issue for him to overcome and perhaps his greatest weakness. The members of his former guild, the Tenbatsu guild, are some of the only people he trusts and even then he has reservations about them. Scarlet was probably the only person he truly and unconditionally trusted due to their long history. Also because of his parents death, ever since his childhood he appeared to be cold and aloof towards others who wish to get closer to him. He tries to stay alone because he is afraid that if he cares for someone, puts his heart out on the line, he'll eventually get hurt when he loses them. Though he appears to be cold and sometimes arrogant, he is truly a kind and compassionate person underneath it all. Though he is compassionate to others he has trouble displaying his emotions. As a Demon Slayer he has trouble with sometimes letting the darkness within him get too strong a hold on him. He is a very honorable man and possesses tremendous strength of character. He refuses to give up when he believes something is wrong and will even break a rule to do what he thinks is right. Despite being a loner and something of a pariah, he did not let his sense of discomfort around people affect his sense of right and wrong and his moral compass has always pointed in the right direction, even if it sometimes sways a little. He possesses a highly fiery attitude and can be headstrong and stubborn. Due to the nature of his relationship with Tenma, the animosity that exists between them, he is slightly envious of Scarlet and Kenshin due to the more caring and open nature of their relationships with their Demon guardians. History Magic and Abilities Immense Magic Power: The amount of magical power possessed by Saitō is truly monstrous, allowing him to perform magic that would tire most mages and in numbers that astonishes most people. He can go on exerting himself when most people would be on the verge of exhaustion and still show almost no sign of weariness. Immense Endurance: Saitō's ablity to take a beating was best displayed when he took a direct blast from Scarlet Darklighter while she was in Demon Force and still being able to stay on his feet, albeit just barely. During a sparring session with Kenshin Suzuki, he was cut and even stabbed more than once by Kenshin's lightning enhanced blade and still able to go on fighting and ultimately defeat the young Demon Slayer without much fuss. Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Tenma, the demon who raised Saitō, was himself a master of the blade and passed onto Saitō his considerable knowledge of the ways of the blade. Having lived for a long time, Tenma had gained knowledge of multiple sword forms and combined what he saw as the best parts of each and came up with a sword form of his own, which he taught to Saitō. As such Saitō's skills with the blade are matched by only the best of swordsmen. When he vowed to stop using Demon Slayer Magic, Saitō was left in the odd situation of being a mage with incomplete skills in minor magic forms and no specific skill set. So while he figured out how to restructure his magical abilities, he trained hard to further improve his swordsmanship skills till. Saitō's signature weapon is a daitō (Japanese long sword) with a jet black blade and the cross guard consisting of four prongs bent out to form the shape of the manji. (剣の魔法 Ken no Mahō): A magic that involves the usage of one or more swords. Saitō has created a number of unique spells that take advantage of not only his great magical power but his masterful swordsmanship as well. *'Kazeshini' (終了大変, Dreadful Ending): A highly potent technique, Kazeshini combines Saitō's talents with the blade with a simple spell to launch a barrage of compressed airwaves towards his intended target. Such is his speed that even though he executes multiples swings to launch a large number of these attacks, his opponents are left under the impression that he has swung his sword but once or twice. These wind blades are extremely sharp and can inflict great damage on contact. While this technique is normally used with his sword, while in Demon Force Saitō had shown the ability to use his claws to execute this move. When executed with his claws its strength is further improved as he can created ten times the number of waves with a single wide sweep of both his arms. *'Shūryō Taihen' (終了大変, Dreadful Ending): Saitō draws upon a large quantity of raw magical power and enshrouds his blade with this aura of magical energy. He can then release the energy stored within the shroud in the form of pure white energy blasts by swinging his sword at his target. The attack is capable of producing a massive explosion on coming in contact with a solid object. He can change the shape, size, and intensity of the blasts, being capable of releasing the energy as one powerful blast or a number of small "bullets" of lesser strength but greater speed. On the whole it is a very powerful and versatile technique, capable of causing large-scale damage and destruction. *'Nadegiri' (撫で斬り, Killing Stroke): A technique that originated from battōjutsu, this involves the execution of a single swift and powerful slash that has enough force behind it to incapacitate most opponents in one move. The drawing of the blade, the act of cutting the target, and the re-sheathing of the blade all take place in one smooth and rapid motion. This technique normally involves no magic and is a simple yet highly effective feat of swordsmanship. (闇の魔法 Yami no Mahō): Saitō's signature magic, this was the first magic style that he ever used and it was his usage of Darkness Magic that got Tenma interested in him and ultimately lead him to adopt the young boy. Though he gave up training in this form when Tenma started teaching him Demon Slayer magic, after giving up using that magic Saitō once more started learning Darkness Magic. Even as a child he had shown an instinctive talent for using this magic and when he restarted learning this form his uptake on this magic was exceedingly fast as the ability to use this magic came very naturally to him. While Saitō can use Darkness magic in ways that would be comparable to conventional elemental magic, there are elements of his usage of the magic that are closer to energy manipulation. This magic appears black in color when used by Saitō. *'Death's Eyes' (死の目, Shi no Me): *'Black Hole' (ブラックホール, Burakkuhōru): Saitō creates a magic seal from which emerge a number of thin arms made of dark energy. These hands expand upon coming in contact with any flesh. As it expands it eats away any of the flesh it comes in contact with, using the consumed flesh to increase its own size. The hands ultimately converge at a point to create a small glob of condensed energy that then explodes with a tremendous blast. This spell is highly dangerous as not only does one have to evade the flesh eating arms, the explosion that follows is just as dangerous. *'Black Rain' (黒い雨, Kuroi Ame): This spell involves Saitō releasing a large amount of raw magical power which dissipates into the air all around him. He can then make it mix with the moisture in the atmosphere and cause the moisture to come down in the form of a black rain. The water droplets that make up the rain are marginally denser than normal and are slightly viscous in texture and appearance. The rain, enriched with his magic, acts as a marker that Saitō can use to execute a highly effective tracking spell. Any person that even a single drop of rain falls on is marked by it and he can then track that person at any later time. This is a purely scouting based ability and has no offensive and defensive benefits. While the rain normally ensures that his target does get marked by it, only beings he intends to mark get tagged and no one else is affected in any way by this spell, even if they get caught in the rain. Also a person can only be tracked when Saitō is specifically searching for them so a person could sneak right up to him without him coming to know of it if he were not searching for that person at the time. *'Shroud of Darkness' (闇のマント, Yami no Manto): *'Kurayami' (暗闇, Darkness): Saitō creates a giant mass of darkness which split to create numerous little children completely made up of shadows, with gleaming purple eyes and wide smiles on their faces revealing gleaming white teeth. These "shadow-children" can then be used by Saitō to do his bidding. The shadow-children actually house a small part of Saitō's personality and as each one represents different aspects of his psyche. As such they can be temperamental, shy, rash or even cowardly and this makes using them in a fight something of a gamble at times. But the tremendous power that they all boast more than makes up for any shortcomings. *'Kageoni' (影鬼, Shadow Demon): A spell that is the advanced form of Kurayami, it can be performed independent of Kurayami though it easier to perform if Kurayami has already been cast. When used after Kurayami has already been cast, all the children merge into a single entity existing in a shadowy form similar to the children but bigger in size and with a single, distinct, bright red eye in the center of its face. If cast independently of its parent spell it involves the summoning of a giant coffin from which the giant shadowy figure emerges. Shield Magic (シールド Shiirudo): An original form created by Saitō himself, Shield is an extremely powerful Caster Type Magic that creates a shield around its caster that absorbs the force of any physical attack that comes in contact with it. This magic involves the creation of a magical barrier around Saitō which absorbs any physical attacks that fall upon it and accumulates the absorbed energy in a sphere at the center of the barrier. Saitō can then launch this gathered energy as a concentrated beam of energy which he directs by placing both or one hand behind the sphere, with the blast being launched in the direction pointed by his palm. Saitō cannot absorb this gathered energy to replenish his own energy levels. He can also gather the absorbed energy around himself to strengthen his own physical attacks. Empathy (共感, Kyōkan): An exceedingly rare magic, one that cannot be taught but one that a mage is born with, Empathy grants Saitō the ability to recognize and, read, and to some extent, share feelings, thoughts and emotions that are being experienced by another sentient being. This ability originally manifested itself during battles as a heightened sense of intuition that sometimes allowed Saitō to guess his opponents next move, but he has since then learned how to completely use this ability. The first full usage of Empathy, and Saitō's most common usage of this sort since then, involved Saitō reaching out to a pack of wolves that were hunting in the wilderness and reading their mind, But Empathy granted him more than just an insight into their minds, it formed a link with them that allowed him to see what they saw, hear what they heard and smell that they smelled. As a result Saitō gained a very keen sense of sight and hearing as well as an extraordinary sense of smell. He can smell different emotions in others and is able to discern other humans' and animals' emotions with considerable accuracy. When bonded with wolves he is able to see in the dark and much farther than would be possible for any human. He can bond in a similar manner with other animals as well, with each bonding enhancing his senses in some way. Empathy also allows him to be able to read an opponents mind, but in limited manner that allows him to more get a general feel of what they are thinking and of their emotions instead of actually being able to discern their thoughts completely. (テレキネシス, Terekineshisu): Saitō has shown the ability to make use of Telekinesis. He can move objects with his mind and can levitate things towards himself or launch them at another being in the form of projectiles. Demon Slayer Magic (滅鬼魔法, Metsuoni Mahō): Having been raised by a Demon named Tenma, Saitō was taught how to use this unique brand of magic, making him one of the few known Demon Slayers. By calling upon spells taught to him by Tenma, Saitō can change the physiology of his body to match those possessed by Tenma. While it is unknown what element he possessed, it has been hinted that it might have been somehow related to Darkness. Demon Force: The supposed final stage that a Demon could reach, Saitō was the first known mage to have reached this stage and, along with Scarlet Darklighter, one of the only two magicians to have mastered this stage. While in Demon Force Saitō's skin turns ashen white, his hair grows much longer, reaching down to his waist, and a hole appears in the center of his chest, similar to the hole in Tenma's chest. The edges of the hole are decorated, with markings stretching outwards from it, across his chest and shoulders. His fingers and toes now end in retractable claws, sharp and strong enough to be used as weapons on their own. Small furry red tufts appear on numerous parts of his body, two starting from his collarbone and stretching around his neck, and one each on his wrists and ankles. His face is covered by a mask similar to the one worn by Tenma, only with its colors reversed. It covers his head completely and is white with black markings on it, similar to the markings on his chest; four spike-shaped marks emerge from the top of his skull, two ending near his forehead, and the other two stretching past the eyes and teeth, going past his chin and joining with the marks on his chest. The mask features two long forward-pointing horns with black strips extending from their center towards the tips. While in Demon Force Saitō's magical and physical abilities are greatly increased, to the point where he could fight on even terms with Sasuke Sarutobi, a member of the Magic Council, and Scarlet Darklighter, a guild master, at the same time. But as with most such abilities, these powers come at a cost. When Saitō managed to gain enough control over this form to be able to call upon it at will, he started to feel negative the effects of its usage also. Repeated usage of Demon Force started to open up his mind and body to be possessed by Tenma, who revealed himself to be as vile and deceitful as Saitō had heard demons to be and used his body for his own purposes. What Saitō learned at a great cost was that Demon Force actually allowed the caster to meld their minds with that of a Demon and call upon a fraction of its power to use as their own. But this link works both ways and the Demon can in turn wrest control of the caster's body from him if he so desires. While Saitō could call upon a fraction of Tenma's powers while in this form, upon taking control of Saitō's body Tenma is capable of calling upon all of his powers. Such is his power that Tenma managed to destroy an entire town on his own, leaving behind nothing but a pile of bodies and somehow poisoning the land in the process. This state, where the caster's body and mind are completely controlled by a Demon is the true final state that a Demon Slayer can achieve. It was stated by Tenma that Demon Slayer magic was actually initially created for the sole purpose of allowing Demons such as him, whose true power and form have been locked away in the depths of hell, to access their power at the expense of the caster of the magic. *' ' (瞬身の魔法 Shunshin no Mahō): While in Demon Force, Saitō is capable of using Teleportation Magic, a form of magic that is very commonly used by Tenma. As such while in this form Saitō is in close enough contact with Tenma to be able to use this magic. Using this magic he is capable of covering large distances in the blink of an eye, gaining an advantage both offensively and defensively. Category:Male Category:Caster-Mage Category:Holder-Mage Category:Weapon user Category:Human Category:Sword user Category:Demon Slayer Category:Mage